Dylan Clements, 19, of Ypsilanti; Jay Sidhu, 18, of Canton; and Billy Geddis, 18, of Brighton display their smart phones that together retail for near $1,200Gus Burns | MLive Detroit

DETROIT — Wayne State University students walk in all directions at
the intersection of Cass and W. Warren near the heart of campus Thursday.

Where most see hopeful youths pursuing their futures,
the opportunistic criminals among us see possible targets, Detroit and Wayne
State University police say.

No less than one in 20 can be observed wearing ear buds attached
to wires trailing toward expensive devices held in their hands, pockets, purses
or bags; some hold and finger smart
phones in the palms of their hands as they walk toward their destinations;
others talk into phones pressed to their ears.

Police say iPhones, which retail for near $500 for the latest model, have become a favorite among
thieves, leading to a spike in brazen thefts, especially in and around the
Wayne State University campus, Detroit Police Lt. Shaw Gargalino told residents
at the Central District Police/Community meeting this week.

"iPhones are a very hot
commodity right now," he said. "People are coming up while you're on
them, they're snatching them and they're running."

Gargalino said, thankfully, none of the thefts he is aware of involved armed robbers.

Wayne State University police issued a campus-wide email last week warning of the trend and provided details of two such incidents that occurred in November.

On Nov. 10 about 2 p.m. a 21-year-old student was walking south on Cass when a man on a bike stopped, "grabbed the student's backpack and pushed her to the ground, causing the iPhone (to fall) from her hand, along with the purse that was slung over her shoulder," the message says.

"For an unknown reason," police say, the man road a short distance before throwing both the iPhone and purse into some bushes.

On Nov. 30 about 9 p.m. a 16-year-old, who is not a student at the university, was confronted by 10 males who indicated they were armed. They stole the teen's iPhone.

On Thursday three young men
walked south along Third Street. All together, their smart phones retail for near $1,200.

Jay Sidhu, 18, of Canton, donning
a white suit, is in the area for a legal issue he had to deal with and met up
with two of his friends, who attend and live on the campus of Wayne State
University.

He hadn't heard about the email
blast sent out to the student body warning of the increase in smart phone
thefts.

"So I should keep my phone in my
pocket," says Sidhu, who attends Schoolcraft College in pursuit of a business
degree. "I didn't know about it because I didn't get the email, but yeah, watch
out for that."

He just called a friend from the class he is soon headed to
to bring a charger so he can recharge his iPhone.

His pockets otherwise are fairly empty.

"I don't have any money," he says.

Neither of Sidhu's friends, both of whom received the Wayne
State police email warning, know of anyone who has been the victim of phone
theft and seem rather unconcerned.

He pulls out an Android phone that he said cost about $400;
meanwhile Billy Geddis, 18, of Brighton, pulls an iPhone 4s from the kangaroo
pocket of his red, hooded sweatshirt.

Even though the iPhone 4s is not the most recent model, it still
sells for between $300 and $400.

The pricey small computers in their pockets are the reason police
are asking residents to be smart and avoid using their phones in public,
especially in less populated or dark stretches of road, unless absolutely
necessary.

On midday Thursday, most of the students I spoke to — each
who I'd spotted with a phone in their hand or earphones in their ears — weren't
significantly concerned about the safety warning.

Gurman Minhas,19, from RochesterGus Burns | MLive Detroit

"It seems safe, but you're always trying to rush where you're
going; you don't want to hang around," said Gurman Minhas, a 19-year-old sophomore
from Rochester.

He's never personally had a problem with crime on the campus.

"You always hear those stories, but nobody I know," said Minhas,
who was looking at MLive sports coverage on his phone while he walked. "I know
last year there were a couple where someone just pulled out a gun and took
their phones.

"Whenever they send out an email, it's usually (related to a
crime) at like 3 or 4 a.m., so I'm pretty sure it's safe around this time."

The problem of iPhone theft is not confined to Wayne State University.